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America The Current Situation

OF COURSE the Republican QAnon congresswoman didn’t know that Guam was part of the United States

“Yes, Marjorie...Guam is part of the United States!” - Photo of Marjorie Taylor Greene and a flagpole flying both the U.S. and Guam flags

At the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that recently took place in Orlando, Majorie Taylor Greene, a.k.a. “the QAnon Congresswoman”, had this to say about foreign aid:

“We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what? China, Russia, Middle East, Guam, whatever, wherever.”

Here’s the thing: Guam is part of the U.S..

Let me repeat that, in case it’s news to you. Guam is part of the U.S..

Here’s a video that should give you an idea of what it’s like in Guam:

Since 1898 and with only one interruption — about three years during World War II, when it was occupied by Japan — the U.S. has been in control of Guam. It’s a U.S. territory, with status similr to that of Puerto Rico.

You’d think that someone who ran as a MAGA candidate might remember that time in 2017 when North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un threatened to attack Guam and Trump famously called Guam’s governor to reassure him:

(While the call was meant to provide peace of mind, we would all learn much later how very much the opposite is true when Trump says “We’re going to do a great job, don’t worry about a thing.”)

In fact, Guam is home to one of the biggest U.S. weapons stockpiles, which supplies U.S. forces operating in the Eastern Hemisphere. As Politico put it, there was a reason for Kim to put Guam in his sights:

If Kim can credibly threaten Guam, he threatens the United States’ ability to fight all but a short war on the Korean Peninsula—not to mention the U.S.’s ability to fight another major war elsewhere. As threats go, this one is surprisingly precise, credible and strategic.

What else does the Kooky QAnon Congresswoman think or believe?

 

If you think that Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ignorance about Guam is cause for concern, you might not be ready for what she believes, thinks, or says:

  • The American government is a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles that can only be defeated by conspiracy nuts like Greene.[1]
  • Wildfires are caused by secret space lasers that are operated by DA JOOZ![5] That’s right, she’s “Jewish Space Lasers” wacko!/li>
  • George Soros, whose Jewish family was hunted by Nazis, is secretly a Nazi.[1]
  • Black Lives Matter are also Nazis, somehow.[6]
  • Children that manage to survive school shootings aren’t just Nazis. They are literally Hitler himself.[6]
  • Greene says that if she were black, she would be proud of monuments to slave-owning war criminals.[1]
  • She believes that Barack Obama commands Latino gangs as his personal death-squads.[7]
  • She says Muslim people should be barred from holding public office, in spite of the fact that this would be exactly the sort of anti-religious conspiracy that Greene fantasizes she herself is the victim of. (And it would be illegal.)[7]
  • It is “oppressive” that congress-people like her have to wear masks. Oh, won’t someone please think of the poor, oppressed congresspeople!?!??
  • She thinks that transgender people aren’t real, and are also, somehow, an abomination that threatens children. For some reason she films herself yelling loudly about this topic in a public library[6]. She also had harassed her office neighbor, Marie Newman (IL-D), because she put up a trans pride flag in support of her daughter [8]. Rude.
  • An anonymous online troll called “Q” is the only person who can save America from all the above made-up problems.
  • She believes that the Parkland mass shooting was a false flag.[9]
  • Greene’s Facebook feed included several endorsements of violence against Democrats, including against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.[10]
  • Greene promoted an anti-refugee and anti-Semitic propaganda video that demonised Africans and Muslims, promoted the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory and promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories blaming Jews for muslim immigration to Europe.[11]
  • Greene liked comments that suggested execution of FBI agents who are part of the “deep state“.[10]
  • Claims that there was no evidence that an airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11[12]
  • Claims that Obama is secretly a Muslim[12]
  • Claims that the Clintons killed JFK Jr.[12]

Territories of the U.S.: A refresher course

The United States has five territories with permanent populations, and they’re all in the tropics:

Categories
America The Current Situation

The perfect movie scene for the Texas reopening

In what seems to be an attempt to justify the Norwegians’ use of “Texas” as a slang expression for “crazy”, Texas’ governor, Greg Abbott, has lifted the state’s mask mandate and will allow businesses to open their doors at 100% capacity starting March 10th, in spite of health experts’ warnings.

There’s a point in a lot of dystopian science fiction where the interests of business take precedence over the interests of people’s safety, and well, Texas is just about there. Florida’s governor, Ron “DipShantis” DeSantis is likely watching and working on plans to follow suit, based on his recent statements. Welcome to late stage capitalism!

It’s going to get dumber, folks.


By the bye, if you’re wondering where the image above comes from, it’s from this classic scene from the 1979 film Alien:

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America It Happened to Me

Today feels like that moment

October 3, 2016: It’s my first day at the job as the developer evangelist for an RFID company with an office in Asheville, North Carolina, so I’m flying there for my first face-to-face with my new boss.

I’m deep in thought, going over what I’m going to talk about with my boss during dinner, when my train of thought gets interrupted.

Someone’s yelling at me.

I look over to see if the yelling is actually directed at me, and not just someone else nearby. I look.

The yelling came from the end of the line at Carolina Pit BBQ. It’s coming from a guy with sandy brown hair, plaid shirt, mom jeans, and one of those then-new “Make America Great Again” caps. He looks more basic and dead inside than a Bob Evans menu, and more “economically anxious” than a first-timer at a Vegas poker game who’s realizing that every other player at the table is a shark or shill.

It’s clear to him that I didn’t quite hear him the first time, so he repeats himself.

“I said: You with the big backpack! Go back to China!”

He’s mistaken my accordion for a backpack, and me for Chinese.

“I bet you heard this time, chink!

From both my media training and my hobby as a street musician on the streets of downtown Toronto, I learned a couple of tricks for dealing with insults from passers-by and hecklers. One of them is to approach them and ask them to repeat what they just said and explain what they meant by it. This is effective if there’s a crowd around and you think they might be more sympathetic to you.

“Would you mind repeating that?” I ask loudly and clearly using my radio announcer voice, as I approach, taking strides as if I were a club bouncer in “business mode”.

As I get closer, it becomes more apparent that I’m almost a head taller than he is. Also, with the accordion slung on my back, my shoulders appear even wider. He’s getting an object lesson that the stereotype of Asian men being short and meek doesn’t always apply.

“Did you not hear me?” I ask. My “scratch a bully, find a coward” gamble is paying off.

I’m now five or six strides away and closing in fast. I repeat my question: “Would you mind —”

And that’s when the little shit high-tailed out of the line, straight for the departure gates.

I look at the spot he just vacated and take it.

Today feels like that moment.

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America The Current Situation

Even as an Asian “goy”, this cracked me up

Thanks to Willa Leah Snowbender for the find!

(The full version of Passover song Dayenu — which translates as “It would have been enough” — is fifteen stanzas.)

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America The Current Situation

January 20, 2021

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America The Current Situation

Smackdown of the day

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Thanks to Mary Trump for the find! Tap to view at full size.

Be the kind of uncle that doesn’t get this kind of photo about them posted BY THEIR OWN NIECE.

Need some context? It’s a reference to a viral video that got posted on Christmas Eve:

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America The Current Situation

Happy “White people twist MLK’s words in order to get people of color to stay in their lane” Day!

Tap the screenshot to see the original tweet.